Candidate presents environmental plan

Once again, the campaign trail has led to the University. Earlier this week, Philadelphia City Council at-large candidate Noel Weyrich came to Houston Hall to present his environmental protection platform, saying that to improve the environment the biggest changes must occur in the realm of public political activism. Weyrich described the current U.S. economy as a "frontier economy" where resources are considered infinite and waste is inconsequential. He blamed the "throwaway society" on the idea that "costs of polluting air and waste don't show up on the books." Society must switch its mindset, he said, because "the frontier is now closed and the ecosystem is deteriorating." Americans' views of the earth should change to a "spaceship economy" where resources are conserved and recycled. Weyrich has led a protest against The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News in an effort to force the newspapers to use more recycled paper. He said the papers use 90 percent virgin paper and are prime contributors to the 30,000 tons of newspapers which Philadelphia landfills every year. In response to this, he sent the newspaper parent company a three-by-five foot "bill" for $2 million dollars. Weyrich emphasized the importance of environmentalists acting in groups to put pressure on corporations to be more concerned with the environment. "They never see the light until they feel the heat," he said. As president of the Bicycle Coalition in Delaware Valley, Weyrich was involved in the fight to get SEPTA to allow bikes to be brought onto the trains. After a year of letter-writing and meetings organized by the coalition, SEPTA will soon allow riders to obtain permits for their bicycles. Weyrich has also been active in calling for bike lanes on city streets. Last October he led a demonstration on the Walnut Street Bridge where protesters laid down and stopped traffic to protest the city's decision not to make an extra wide lane to accommodate bicyclists. Weyrich, an alumnus of the University, is a Democratic candidate for the at-large City Council position. College freshman Laurance Narbut said that he was very impressed with Weyrich and said that if he were a Philadelphia resident he would vote for the University alum. "I though he was very intelligent and very well spoken," Narbut said. "He has a very viable platform which is both environmentally and economically sound and which would fulfill many of the needs of Philadelphia." College sophomore Andy Baker said Weyrich was rare among politicians. "He's one of the few politicians that I've seen who is willing to give details of his platform without even being pressed," he said.

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